1. Electronic transmission

Vacuum breakdown is caused by the appearance, transport and multiplication of free electrical charges in the inter-electrode space. Electrons are the source of the current surge. Let's take a look at the main mechanisms for generating electrons from a solid.

In fact, electron emission can be generated by several phenomena. Firstly, emission assisted by an intense electric field, commonly known as "field emission", i.e. the extraction of electrons from a surface by tunneling thanks to the lowering of the potential barrier under the effect of the electric field. Thermionic emission, on the other hand, is explained by the increase in the population of electronic states of energy above the Fermi level, under the effect of temperature, at the expense of that of lower levels.